Child Participation: Training on ‘Right based approach to child right and welfare approach’

Dr. Emebet Mulugeta, Director of Nia Center for Children and Family Development (Nia-CCFD) gave a capacity building training session on the rights based approach to child rights and welfare programming officers of Save the Children Alliance. The training, held on November 15, 2014, was organized by Addis Ababa University Center for Human Rights and Save the Children.
This interactive training session informed participants of the provisions in place to ensure child participation as stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC).  Benefits of child participation such as building children’s confidence and communication skills; bestowing children with appropriate levels of responsibility, and using child participation as a tool to ensure the best interest of the child were also discussed.

To assume the practice of genuine child participation, Dr. Emebet explained the importance of paying close attention to children’s characteristics and their specific needs; listening to them; providing them with appropriate information; aiming for the highest level of participation, and playing the role of a facilitator rather than a decision maker in a given scenario.  Participants were advised to take note of the capacities children possess as they progress through various developmental stages in order to provide them with appropriate roles in their participation process. Finally, participants were given some cases on child participation to discuss the cases and come up with ideas on how child participation could resolve specific issues within their own communities.  CLICK HERE FOR A COPY OF THE POWER POINT PRESENTATION.